This invention relates to a self-propelled agricultural machine steered by an operator walking behind the machine. The machine comprises a control section disposed laterally of a transmission case to control a drive transmission mechanism.
In known agricultural machines of the type described above, the control section for controlling the drive transmission mechanism is openly exposed to the ambient. Therefore, when the machine is used to operate along rows of crop or near shrubs and trees, leaves and stalks of the crop or branches of the shrubs and trees tend to enter the part of the machine where the control section is mounted and become entangled or caught in the control section. This results in such problems as damage to the crop and an inadvertent switching of the drive transmission mechanism.